The Vikings are 3-0, but the quarterback chatter around Minnesota is already drifting into familiar territory. Some fans want to look at Carson Wentz after Kyler Murray’s shaky Week 3 showing. Others, from a deeper corner of the internet, have their attention on Kirk Cousins.
That’s the temptation. Cousins is rolling with the Las Vegas Raiders, completing 67.4 percent of his passes for 661 yards, an NFL-high nine touchdowns, and three interceptions. At 38, he looks a lot like the quarterback Minnesota remembers, and with No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza waiting behind him, the Raiders could consider moving him if they fall short of their projected preseason win total of 5.5.
For the Vikings, though, the idea should come with a loud warning label.
Minnesota already went down this road once, and the ending is exactly why a reunion should not feel automatic. Cousins arrived in 2018 with real hype after the Vikings had reached the NFC Championship Game the year before.
But the team still lacked a long-term answer under center. Teddy Bridgewater’s future was unsettled after the severe leg injury he suffered in practice before the 2016 season.
Sam Bradford was dealing with a degenerative knee condition that limited him to just part of the 2017 season. Case Keenum had a strong run, but it felt like lightning in a bottle.
That set the stage for Cousins to sign the first fully guaranteed contract in NFL history: three years, $84 million.
The fit looked promising on paper. Minnesota had the No. 1 defense in the league a year earlier, and it seemed like Cousins could be the quarterback to push the roster over the top.
Instead, the cracks showed quickly. Offensive coordinator John DiFilippo never got on the same page with Mike Zimmer and was fired after a Week 14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The system asked too much of Cousins, who was dealing with what was then a career-high 606 pass attempts.
The Vikings missed the playoffs, but the Cousins era didn’t stop there. In 2019, Minnesota beat the New Orleans Saints in a playoff game, and Zimmer spent the second half trying to protect Cousins by leaning heavily on Dalvin Cook. Cousins still came through with a 43-yard throw to Adam Thielen and a walk-off touchdown, and that performance helped him land a two-year, $66 million extension.
He went on to become the Vikings’ most consistent quarterback since Fran Tarkenton, topping 4,000 passing yards four times and throwing 30 or more touchdowns three times in six seasons with the team. But the highs came with some brutal lows.
There was the moment in 2021 against the San Francisco 49ers when he lined up under the guard. There was the 4th-and-8 checkdown to T.J.
Hockenson on the final drive of the 2022 Wild Card loss to the New York Giants.
Those moments are the reason the nostalgia should be handled carefully. Cousins was productive in Minnesota. He was never the final piece.
There is still a case for a trade if the Vikings decide they need another quarterback move. Cousins played his best football under Kevin O’Connell, completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 6,878 yards, 47 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions in 25 games before tearing his Achilles during the 2023 season.
And Minnesota’s quarterback room remains unsettled. Kyler Murray is slated to start against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, but after his Week 3 performance, some fans are already pushing for Wentz. Max Brosmer was elevated to the 53-man roster on Tuesday, and if none of those options grabs hold soon, the noise around another move will only get louder.
There is also the Raiders’ side of the equation. If Las Vegas stumbles during a stretch that includes the Kansas City Chiefs, the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills, and the Los Angeles Rams, the team may decide to turn to Mendoza. But even then, a trade for Cousins would not come cheap, and the Raiders may not want to send Mendoza into the same kind of situation McCarthy faced after missing his entire rookie season with a torn meniscus.
The Vikings have been here before. That history should be enough to slow the rush toward a reunion. Before chasing Cousins again, Minnesota should see what it has in Murray, Wentz, and Brosmer first.
In Other News...
Vikings Just Lost Another Depth Piece To A Desperate Giants Team
The Giants turned to familiar help along their defensive front, signing Jihad Ward off the Vikings practice squad to their active roster after Brian Burns went down with a torn ACL. Ward had already spent time in New York during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, so the move gives the Giants an immediate option they know well as they try to patch together the edge-rush group.
For Minnesota, it is another reminder of how thin depth can get in a hurry when other teams are hunting for experienced bodies. Ward had been sitting on the Vikings practice squad, but New York needed a quick fix and made room by releasing Josh Tupou, leaving Minnesota to absorb one more roster loss while the market around a damaged Giants defense keeps shifting. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings Finally Explained The J.J. McCarthy Trade Fans Feared
When the Vikings sent J.J. McCarthy to the Giants, it immediately landed as the kind of move that can rattle a fan base, especially with a player whose future had been tied so closely to the teams long-term plans. General manager Nolan Teasley later laid out the reasoning behind the deal, and the key point was simple enough: this was not a trade McCarthy asked for, even if the optics made it easy for supporters to assume otherwise.
Kevin OConnells reaction added another layer to the story, because the head coach described an emotional exchange with McCarthy after the announcement. For Minnesota, the explanation matters as much as the transaction itself, since any departure involving a high-profile young quarterback is going to invite questions about timing, trust and whether the organization sees the move as a football decision or something more complicated. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Plan For J.J. McCarthy Says Plenty About Vikings Trade
The Giants reported plan for J.J. McCarthy is a revealing one for the Vikings as much as it is for New York. Minnesota moved on from the quarterback in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick, and the direction the Giants are taking with him suggests they see a player whose best early fit is in a run-heavy setup rather than as the centerpiece of a high-volume passing game.
For Vikings fans, that naturally brings the trade back into focus. McCarthys college success came in a system that did not ask him to carry much of the passing load, and his time in Minnesota showed how difficult that transition could be when the offense asked for more. If the Giants are already shaping their offense around those concerns, it only sharpens the question of what the Vikings believed they had, and why they were willing to move on when they did. [Read more 🡒]